Early math skills among US kindergarteners (typically age 5)

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Headline data

Early math skills among US kindergarteners (typically age 5)
Year Value
2010 32.253096

Source: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011)

Geographical Area:

Unit of Measurement:

Footnote:

This table provides metadata for the actual indicator available from United States statistics closest to the corresponding global SDG indicator. Please note that even when the global SDG indicator is fully available from American statistics, this table should be consulted for information on national methodology and other American-specific metadata information.

Indicator

Approaches to learning, interpersonal skills, self-control, health mathematics, and reading performance of entering kindergarten students in the US (typically age 5),
Organisation

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011)
Unit of measure

Measures described in indicator description
Data sources

U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–11 (ECLS-K:2011)
Data providers

Tom Snyder
Comment and limitations

Standard errors appear on the web.
Method of computation

Scale scores as described in indicators description
Actual indicator available - description

The approaches to learning scale is based on teachers’ reports on how students rate in seven areas: attentiveness, task persistence, eagerness to learn, learning independence, ability to adapt easily to changes in routine, organization, and ability to follow classroom rules. Possible scores on the approaches to learning scale range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating that a child exhibits positive learning behaviors more often.

The interpersonal skills scale is based on teachers’ reports on the student’s skill in forming and maintaining friendships; getting along with people who are different; comforting or helping other children; expressing feelings, ideas, and opinions in positive ways; and showing sensitivity to the feelings of others. Possible scores on the interpersonal skills scale range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating that a child interacted with others in a positive way more often.

The self-control scale is based on teachers’ reports on the student’s ability to control behavior by respecting the property rights of others, controlling temper, accepting peer ideas for group activities, and responding appropriately to pressure from peers. Possible scores on the self-control scale range from 1 to 4, with higher scores indicating that a child exhibited behaviors indicative of self-control more often.

Reading score reflects performance on questions measuring basic skills (print familiarity, letter recognition, beginning and ending sounds, rhyming words, and word recognition); vocabulary knowledge; and reading comprehension, including identifying information specifically stated in text (e.g., definitions, facts, and supporting details), making complex inferences from texts, and considering the text objectively and judging its appropriateness and quality. Possible scores for the reading assessment range from 0 to 120.

Mathematics score reflects performance on questions on number sense, properties, and operations; measurement; geometry and spatial sense; data analysis, statistics, and probability (measured with a set of simple questions assessing children’s ability to read a graph); and prealgebra skills such as identification of patterns. Possible scores for the mathematics assessment range from 0 to 113.

Socioeconomic status (SES) was measured by a composite score based on parental education and occupations and household income during the child’s kindergarten year.

Variable name Variable label
i4_2_1learnapp_total Mean approaches to learning score, total
i4_2_1learnapp_male Mean approaches to learning score, male
i4_2_1learnapp_female Mean approaches to learning score, female
i4_2_1learnapp_lowses Mean approaches to learning score, low quintile socioeconomic status
i4_2_1learnapp_midses Mean approaches to learning score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status
i4_2_1learnapp_highses Mean approaches to learning score, low quintile socioeconomic status
i4_2_1interperson_total Mean interpersonal skills score, total
i4_2_1interperson_male Mean interpersonal skills score, male
i4_2_1interperson_female Mean interpersonal skills score, female
i4_2_1interperson_indian Mean interpersonal skills score, American Indian/Alaska Native
i4_2_1interperson_lowses Mean interpersonal skills score, low quintile socioeconomic status
i4_2_1interperson_midses Mean interpersonal skills score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status
i4_2_1interperson_highses Mean interpersonal skills score, low quintile socioeconomic status
i4_2_1control_total Mean self-control score, total
i4_2_1control_male Mean self-control score, male
i4_2_1control_female Mean self-control score, female
i4_2_1control_indian Mean self-control score, American Indian/Alaska Native
i4_2_1control_lowses Mean self-control score, low quintile socioeconomic status
i4_2_1control_midses Mean self-control score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status
i4_2_1control_highses Mean self-control score, low quintile socioeconomic status
i4_2_1reading_total Mean reading score, total
i4_2_1reading_male Mean reading score, male i4_2_1reading_female Mean reading score, female
i4_2_1reading_indian Mean reading score, American Indian/Alaska Native
i4_2_1reading_lowses Mean reading score, low quintile socioeconomic status
i4_2_1reading_midses Mean reading score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status
i4_2_1reading_highses Mean reading score, low quintile socioeconomic status
i4_2_1math_total Mean mathematics score, total
i4_2_1math_male Mean mathematics score, male
i4_2_1math_female Mean mathematics score, female
i4_2_1math_indian Mean mathematics score, American Indian/Alaska Native
i4_2_1math_midses Mean mathematics score, middle three quintiles socioeconomic status
i4_2_1math_highses Mean mathematics score, low quintile socioeconomic status
Date of national source publication

July 2012
Periodicity

About every 10 years.
Date metadata updated

October 2016
Disaggregation geography

National and regions
Disaggregation categories

Sex, socioeconomic status. Other variables available on request.
International and national references

http://nces.ed.gov/ecls/kindergarten2011.asp
Time period

Fall 2010

This table provides information on metadata for SDG indicators as defined by the UN Statistical Commission. Complete global metadata is provided by the UN Statistics Division.

Indicator

Indicator 4.2.1: Proportion of children aged 24–59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being, by sex
Target

Target 4.2: By 2030, ensure that all girls and boys have access to quality early childhood development, care and pre-primary education so that they are ready for primary education
Organisation

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Definition and concepts

Definition:

The proportion of children aged 24 to 59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being.

Concepts:

The domains included in the indicator for SDG indicator 4.2.1 include the following concepts:

  • Health: gross motor development, fine motor development and self-care.
  • Learning: expressive language, literacy, numeracy, pre-writing, and executive functioning.
  • Psychosocial well-being: emotional skills, social skills, internalizing behavior, and externalizing behavior.

The recommended measure for SDG 4.2.1 is the Early Childhood Development Index 2030 (ECDI2030) which is a 20-item instrument to measure developmental outcomes among children aged 24 to 59 months in population-based surveys. The indicator derived from the ECDI2030 is the proportion of children aged 24 to 59 months who have achieved the minimum number of milestones expected for their age group, defined as follows:

  • Children age 24 to 29 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 7 milestones;
  • Children age 30 to 35 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 9 milestones;
  • Children age 36 to 41 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 11 milestones;
  • Children age 42 to 47 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 13 milestones;
  • Children age 48 to 59 months are classified as developmentally on-track if they have achieved at least 15 milestones.
Unit of measure

Percent (%)
Data sources

In 2015, UNICEF initiated a process of methodological development that involved extensive consultations with experts, partner agencies and national statistical authorities. Over the following five years, a sequence of carefully planned technical steps were executed, incorporating both qualitative and quantitative methods to identify the best items to measure indicator 4.2.1. This process led to the development of the ECDI2030.

The ECDI2030 addresses the need for nationally representative and internationally comparable data on early childhood development, collected in a standardized way. It captures the achievement of key developmental milestones by children between the ages of 24 and 59 months. Mothers or primary caregivers are asked 20 questions about the way their children behave in certain everyday situations, and the skills and knowledge they have acquired.

The ECDI2030 can be integrated into existing national data collection efforts, including international household survey programmes such as UNICEF-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and the Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS).

The ECDI2030 is meant to replace the Early Childhood Development Index (or ECDI) which collects data on the proxy indicator for SDG 4.2.1 that has been in use since 2015. The former ECDI and the new ECDI2030 target different age groups and measure slightly different development domains. Therefore, the indicators generated by both instruments may not be fully comparable and caution is needed when interpreting estimates produced by the two measures.
Data providers

National Statistical Offices (in most cases)
Comment and limitations

SDG 4.2.1 was initially classified as Tier 3 and was upgraded to Tier 2 in 2019; additionally, changes to the indicator were made during the 2020 comprehensive review. In light of this and given that the ECDI2030 was officially released in March 2020, it will take some time for country uptake and implementation of the new measure and for data to become available from a sufficiently large enough number of countries. Therefore, in the meantime, some countries will continue to rely on use of a proxy indicator (children aged 36-59 months who are developmentally on-track in at least three of the following four domains: literacy-numeracy, physical, social-emotional and learning) to report on 4.2.1. This proxy indicator has been used for global SDG reporting since 2015 but is not fully aligned with the definition and age group covered by the SDG indicator formulation. When the proxy indicator is used for SDG reporting on 4.2.1 for a country, it will be footnoted as such in the global SDG database.
Method of computation

The number of children aged 24 to 59 months who are developmentally on track in health, learning and psychosocial well-being divided by the total number of children aged 24 to 59 months in the population multiplied by 100.
Metadata update

2024-03-28
International organisations(s) responsible for global monitoring

United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF)
Related indicators

Indicator 4.2.2: Participation rate in organized learning (one year before the official primary entry age), by sex
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